Tuesday, October 8, 2013

I have so many projects in the works right now, my head is spinning. I feel like I haven't shared anything finished for a while. Well, next week there will be a bunch, so stay tuned. But here's a little bit of what I'm working on behind the scenes. First up, these traditional Dresden Plate blocks. I love the monochromatic blocks, but now I'm trying to decide what to put in the centers. Whether to use a light center or go dark - black maybe? Whether to have a center color that matches the individual block or whether to have one contrasting fabric center that unifies all the blocks. Thoughts?

For these Dresdens I'm using a collection of all my favorite American Jane prints, including the latest and greatest, Pot Luck. (Those baby chicks!) Yardage should be hitting stores soon, but you can find Pot Luck precuts here and here. Also, the fun thing about Dresden plates is that they are so much easier than they look. There is a tutorial on Sew Mama Sew here.

And because I don't have enough unfinished projects in the works, I think I need a few more. A few weeks ago my boys started their flag football season. They are SOOooo excited and it's fun to watch. This season we are cheering for the Dirtbags and the Killer Goats. (Can you tell the kids picked the names themselves?) We've already had some COLD games. (This fall is not my favorite fall. Too cold, to early.)

As I sat at those cold games, snuggled under our old pea-green, wool army blanket (which does it's job) and looked at other people wrapped up in old quilts, I wondered why I didn't have a quilt for these settings. Obviously I have a plethora of quilts in my house, but I'm too chicken to take them out to a wet, sometimes muddy, football field. I want to make something heavy and durable, so I'm going to use these cotton Crossroads Denims from Amy Barickman. I love the saturated colors of these denims and they will make a nice heavy, durable quilt for my cold sporting events. It probably won't get done before the end of the Killer Goats' season, but I'm itching to start and then I'll be all ready for soccer season this spring.

And speaking of projects, I bought and need to do something with this Halloween print. SO cute. It's from the Spooktacular collection by Maude Ashbury for Blend. You can find the prints still from the Little Fabric Shop. The Jack-o-lanterns are equally adorable.

And finally, if you're looking for a new project yourself, check out this cute kit from Honey Be Good fabrics using Arin Turnmire's latest collection for Moda, Little Things.

Honey Be Good created this kit using my Hour Glass pattern and has it ready to go as a kit! For the next week you can get 15% off Little Things fabric or the kit using the coupon code DOAQ. (Good until October 15.)

Those denims would make a nice rag quilt coupled with flannel or fleece on the back side would make it pretty warm and quick to make. With the Dresdens, I made my centers yo yo's and secured them with a button in the middle. You could make a center the same color as each block then put them with different colors, like a yellow center for the red dresden, a red center for the blue dresden, a blue center for the green dresden etc. or make them all white with colored polka dots! There are endless possibilities!

Love your Dresden plate blocks. I just got some templates in the mail I ordered from Ebay. Can't wait to use them. Just got to decide what prints I want to use. You have inspired me to get started. But I am also like you I have so many projects started.....Donna from Blackberry Winter Crafts

Ooh, I just LOVE your monochromatic Dresden plates! Do you want all of the centers to be the same fabric? I almost think I'd want a different center for each plate, like a deep orange for the blue plate, dark gray for the yellow plate, maybe blue in the red plate and purple in the green one. Another idea -- the center does not need to just be a plain circle. You could applique a hexagon instead, or some other shape. I did a Dresden plate quilt for my very girly little niece last year and I put machine appliqued flowers in the center of each plate, using two different fabrics and Accuquilt Go! die cut flower shapes: http://cheekycognoscenti.blogspot.com/2012/11/me-blog-hop-giveaway-flower-power.html What is the intended use of this quilt? If it's for a child, it would be wonderful to use Minky for the centers of the blocks. It doesn't fray so you could cut out your circles and just applique the edges with a zigzag. My ideas are probably too cutesy for you, though. I'm sure whatever you choose to do will be perfect!

Before reading, I was looking at your Dresdens thinking how great they looked with the low volume. What if you did another low volume in the center...like one of the prints from another block. I think that would look great and tie them in nicely!

Also, I'd never heard of denim quilts until a friend of mine lent hers to me. Woah. Those things are serious. But they are definitely good for the great outdoors, especially when the great outdoors are chilly!!

Guess just appliqueing back the centers so the background fabric shows would be too hard right?:) Why don't you finish all your plates, lay they out and take a photo then take it to Paint or some other photo editing thingy and tryout different centers?:)

Whoaaa...I was thinking that looked like denim before I read it was...why don't you make a duvet cover and put that army blanket inside?:) Toasty, toasty, toasty!!

I love to make Dresden plates they are very addictive :) Yours are beautiful! The centre piece is always dilemma for me :) You have a great taste in colors so whatever you choose I am sure it will be gorgeous.If you like to see my collection of Dresden here is link to my blog http://handmadebyhanki.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/dresden-plate-mania.html

I like black because its dramatic but with your color choices I would go a different matching circle for each block. maybe a solid green, red and yellow would be very pretty and yet not take away from your beautifull fabrics. you could always cut out some colors and set them up on your desing board without actually sewing them to see how you like them first.

Love the idea of a denim quilt!! When I saw the lovely Dresdens, I was thinking it might be pretty to rotate colors for the centers..yellow in the red, red in the green, etc (maybe one of the low volume prints in each color). Or maybe navy? Or a navy pindot...oh the possibilities!

I love your dresdens and wish I had enough good stash to do the same. I'm not creative enough to give you suggestions for the center, but I am bold enough to ask how in the world did you attach them to the background?! I CAN'T SEE YOUR STITCHES!! Gosh you're good!! I look forward to seeing what you come up with to complete this project :o)

Oh Amy, you know how to grab my attention with all those adorable American Jane fabrics! I love them, the colours are adorable. I like the suggestion from one of the other followers about mixing up and just rotating the colours in the middle. Got to love a Dresdan, and with American Jane.... ah.Therese x

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